Insulated wall



March 3, 1936. E. R. POWELL 2,032,852

INSULATED WALL' Filed Feb. 4, 1933 INVE'NTOR.

IM/KM Patented Mar. 3, 1936 UNITED 1 STATES PATENT ori-*ICE *g Y' j f 2,032,852 l INSULATED WALL 601,796,'flled March 29, 1932, now Patent No.

1,963,031 dated June 12, 1934.

One chief object of this invention is to vary, in different parts of the unit, the degree and nature of the expansion which is embodied therein and the resulting variation in internal structure resulting therefrom. Another chief ob- `ject of the invention is to adapt the aforesaid variations ininternal structure to particular functions which are required in a iioor, wall or ceiling. y

'I'he chief feature of the invention is that by such variations in internal structure it is possible to perform all of the desired functions of a building unit and of the wall, floor'or part of the building in which it is employed, much nore fully than by any constant internal strucure.

The principal characteristics which are desirable in a unit for a masonry ceiling slab and which may beimparted by proper internal structure in the unit, are: (1) high compressive strength in the upper layers (except where cantilever construction is used), (2) good bonding properties on the upper surface for composition floor or roof to be -applied thereto, (3) thermal insulating value and rigidity in the body portion, (4) high bonding strength on the side or edge surfaces, (5) sound absorbing and decorative value in the lower surface, (6) minimum weight. If units are to be exposed on the upper side for the iioor above, they should have a wearing surface' and washable characteristics instead of bonding surface as indicated above. A ceiling and floor or roof constructed in this way may be considered a wall or horizontal wall.

' The vertical walls, then are walls also or may common with other ceramic products and Portland cement units of satisfactory quality.

Edward It.A Powell, AlexandrlaJnd. Application February 4, 1933, Serial No. 655,160

f 4 Claims. (Cl. 'I2-36) A Solid brick or block has normally a thermal conductivity of about 8 to 15 B. t. u., commercial conductivity. If, by expanded structure, this conductivity is reduced to less than about 3 B. t. u. in the same units, the difference is substan- 5 tial due to the additional heat resistance of the wall or ceiling.

The principal structural characteristics which units embodying the invention should have to form a complete `and desirable side wall are: (1) 10 an impervious, decorative and washable outer i surface, (2) a shock-resisting outer layer, (3)

insulating value and rigidity in the body portion, (4) bonding strength on the joining surfaces or edge surfaces, (5) interlocking -o`r oiset edges to 15 prevent leakage and avoid the necessity of double Wall construction, (6) decorative and washable inner surface, (7) acoustical properties when desired, (8) minimum weight to permit handling in large units and reduce foundation 20 loads, (9) adaptable features such as easy cutting, drilling and anchoring.

So far as known, no building unit which is uniform throughout has all of the above desirable characteristics. It is unduly difficult 'to 25 adapt any one internal structure to all of the above conditions. For instance, in present practice, an impervious surface suitable for exteriors does not have acoustical properties, and material of maximum compressive strength does not have either insulating or acoustical value.

'I'he chief purpose, then, of this invention is to embody, invarious parts of the same unit, the various characteristics which will adapt it to l perform the various functions enabled bythese characteristics as enumerated above as and where needed. n

How these various characteristics are imparted to a building unit made of common ceramic raw materials will be understood more fully by ref- 40 erence to the accompanying drawing and the following description and claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an expanded building unit used as a part of a ceiling slab which also forms the oor or roof deck above.

Fig. 2` is a transverse section of a cellular building unit for use in a complete side wall and is taken from inside to outside. 50

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view of another form of expanded building unit for use in a complete side wall.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of part of a varied character block, the lower part being subhigh compressive strength. Such a vlayer is formed of vitried ceramic material, either not expanded at all or expanded with only small bubbles, and not less than about 70 lb. per cu. ft. density for most kinds of expansion. I2 is a body portion of material which is preferably of' lower density and has larger cells. I3 is an exposed cell formed when the expanded structure is dressed to size. Il is a still lighter density portion material containing some voids of considerable size. I6 is a cell of intercommunicating type which leads to opening l5 in the lower surface to vform an acoustical under surface. The block is set in mortar I1 which encloses a reinforcing rod i8. The mortar is carried over the top of the block at I9 for strength and smoothness. A composition oor or roof 20 is applied to the mortar i9.

In Figs. 2 and 3, the outer surface 23 is in the form of a ceramic glaze. The mortar joint 25 is pointed with a waterproof putty of bituminous or other elastic type 2l. The body portion 3| of the unit is of expanded type to give lightness and insulating value. The outer layer 26 of material near surface 23 is comparatively heavy for shock resistance from outside. Thereis an offset 28 in the block to prevent straight through joints which might develop into straight through cracks. 'The exposed cells 22 give the mortar 25 a high bonding strength. The inner surface 2l if of a glazed and decorative type for interior purposes.l

In Fig. 3, the Ywall unit has an offset in the form of a groove 29 which receives a sort of packing strip 21 of elastic material and prevents leakage through the wall even if there is a little settling. These precautions avoid the need of double wall construction to avoid leakage. If the wall is to have part of its surface of acoustical type, a layer of material having intercommunicating air cells 30 may be provided and openingsin the inner surface leading thereto.

The surfaces indicated at points by numbers Il, I3, 22, 28 and 33 are intended to be bonded to mortar for joining to adjacent units. These surfaces may therefore, be called "'joining surfaces, to distinguish them from such surfaces as 23 and 24 which are exposed surfaces. The exposed and joining surfacesy are not always opposite as shown. They may be adjacent as in cor- K ner units or coping.

Varied characteristic units may be formed (l) by successive depositions of materials in layers from successive depositing means, (2) by control of the expansion or air cell distribution in a single operation, (3) by successive aerating processes acting on a given body of plastic clay, or

' least in the form of wet plastic clay.

aosaou forged 1n various waysbut in au instances..the variations and other structural features are embodied in the units while they are partially atA- v The wet. molded units are dried as'single units with the variations included'in each, and lilred in conventional manner. The finished units from these operations are then assembled in the mannen shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 either by grouting the joints or by laying up in the usual manner.

'Ihe block of Fig. 5 has lumps of aggregate which are, highly expanded as indicated by cell I3. These lumps are coated with bonding material as at I6 but there are some voids between` the lumps such as 41. The bonding material is concentrated at the lower (as formed) side 43 to form a dense layer. The whole block is dried and fired as a single unit.

The block of Fig. 4 has voids in the upper part 38 and down to a definite level due todraining olf of liquid clay. In the lower part 42 all the large voids are filled by liquid clay which is subsequently hardened and forms the bond for the unit.

Reinforcement is shown in the floor slab only. The reinforcement may, of course, be used in any part of the structure. If desired, the walls may be reinforced also and the reinforcment of the floors tied in to the wall3 reinforcement.

Corner blocks which may require surface coating on one side and one end may, while still wet. be spray coated to cover exposed cellular structure, or special forms may be used to mold a dense surface on two or more adjacent sides of a unit.

The scope of this invention is not limited strictly'to units in which the cellular structure is produced by gas means, because cells may be formed mechanically or by burning Y out com# bustible or volatile aggregates. For economic reasons, where huge numbers of cells are to be formed, it is believed that a principally gas expanded unit proves most economical--hence the emphasis on the gas-formed cellular structure. By a principally gas-expanded unit is meant one which is expanded by air, gas or other fluid expansion rather than by a solid agency.

While only flat units are shown, it is possible to mold units of curved or other irregular shapes which have, nevertheless, varied characteristics of the sort described herein, by the same general methods. Also itis possible to use other methods of varying the degree and kind of expansion without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In general, this invention includes all building units of multi-cellular type in which the structure and degree of cell structure is varied within the unit for one or more of the objects herein explained.

The apparatus and process features of this application originally contained herein are reserved for divisional application Serial No. 701,332. Y

In the present instance, this application is restricted to a. non-leaking type of wall structure.

The invention claimed is:

l. A wall structure comprisingv a plurality of building units arranged as a single unit thickness wall, mortar between the units and water'pnooi'lng elastic material adapted to prevent leakage along the mortar joints the units being of ceramicmaterial having an expanded body portion and a dense relatively impervious outer layer, part of the elastic waterproofing material being in concontinuous water tight outer surface.

2. A non-sweating wall structure comprising a plurality of expanded ceramic units arranged as a single unit thickness layer, mortar between the units and of interrupted character, the interruption occurring intermediate the sides of the unit thickness wall, waterproofing cushion seal-- ing means between the units and in the interruption; each unit having a wall surface forming glazed face, the mortar having additional watertact with the outer layer to form a substantially proofing sealing means in the joints betweenthe units and immediately adjacent the glazed faces thereof.

3. A Wall structure as dened by claim 1, characterized by the addition of a ceramic glaze to a the glazed face having a cellular structure and 10 having relatively high thermal resistance.

- EDWARD R. POWELL. 

